Twenty-four people were injured Wednesday morning at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, where police said a teen armed with two stainless steel kitchen knives walked through the hallways and began stabbing his fellow students before classes were about to start.

Alex Hribal

The suspect, 16-year-old sophomore Alex Hribal, has been charged as an adult on four counts of attempted criminal homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of carrying a weapon on school property.

The suspect, 16-year-old sophomore Alex Hribal, has been charged as an adult on four counts of attempted criminal homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of carrying a weapon on school property.

The suspect, 16-year-old sophomore Alex Hribal, wore a hospital gown and was restrained with handcuffs and shackles as police took him to District Judge Charles Conway's office, where he was formally charged as an adult on four counts of attempted criminal homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of carrying a weapon on school property. He was denied bail and has a preliminary hearing on April 30 at 1 p.m.

"My prayers go out to everyone who was injured today and I hope they recover as quickly as possible," the boy's father said after arriving at the family's Murrysville home, where he was accompanied inside by FBI officials who searched the residence for about three hours.

Twenty-two people -- 21 students and one security guard -- were stabbed inside the high school, police said. Two more suffered other injuries.

Two of the injured students are in critical condition at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, and a third is on life support at UPMC Presbyterian, doctors at both hospitals said.

Murrysville Police Chief Thomas Seefeld said a radio call about "something critical going on at the high school" was put out by a school resource officer shortly before 7:15 a.m., and police arrived to find a "chaotic scene" with multiple victims in a first-floor hallway, including a security guard with a stomach wound. He said the suspect had already been subdued by the combined efforts of an assistant principal and the school resource officer, who is also a Murrysville police officer.

"I saw a pool of blood in front to my right, with a coffee mug there, and I was with my friend," student Michael Float said. "We walked to the left -- there was blood right where the double doors are all over the wall. I saw (my friend) towards the front of the school where the office is, with his shirt up, looking into the offices, screaming, 'Help, help.' (He had) a stab wound on his stomach, bleeding down."

Seven patients between the ages of 15 and 17 were taken to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, along with the injured adult. Two of the students were in critical but stable condition, said Dr. Mark Rubino, the hospital's chief medical officer.

Dr. Chris Kaufman, the trauma director at Forbes, said three victims needed surgery after being stabbed in the torso, abdomen, chest or back. The injuries were described as "significant," with major organs being hit, and a liver specialist was called to assist. The majority of the injuries were characterized as "life-threatening" in medical terms, but hospital officials said they did expect the victims to survive.

"They seem to actually almost have a pattern. Most of them were to the right lower abdomen and the right flank, and that created some of the criticality of their wounds and the nature of their injuries," Rubino said. He described the wounds as "deep, penetrating injuries."

Other patients were taken to UPMC East, also in Monroeville, and to various hospitals in Pittsburgh.

A 17-year-old boy was taken to UPMC Presbyterian with "a single, life-threatening stab wound to the left side of his torso," said Dr. Lou Alarcon, medical director of trauma surgery. "He arrived with a very low blood pressure and evidence of massive bleeding within his chest and abdomen."

The 17-year-old had injuries to his liver, diaphragm and major blood vessels between the chest and the abdomen -- and Alarcon said the knife came within millimeters of hitting his heart and his aorta. He was on life-support in the intensive care unit and will need more surgery in the coming days, "but we're very hopeful that he will make it through this," the doctor said.

Hribal was first taken to the Murrysville police station to be interviewed, then driven by police to a hospital to be treated for an arm injury.

"The juvenile went down a hallway and was flashing two knives around and injured the people," Seefeld said.

Police haven't determined a motive yet. They are investigating a Delmont woman's report that her son received a phone call Tuesday evening, possibly from the suspect, with a threat about something that would happen to her son Wednesday.

The stabbings happened in numerous classrooms throughout the building before classes had begun for the day, according to Dan Stevens, deputy emergency management coordinator for Westmoreland County public safety.

"There were a bunch of people crying," student Hope Demont said. "I remember seeing two kids trying to run into the school to help. There were seniors running everywhere to see if they could carry someone, help someone."

Joanne Witkowski said her 14-year-old nephew, Brandon Brown, was recovering from surgery for a stab wound to the abdomen. She said the knife missed the boy's liver and colon, but punctured a lung.

"His message is that he wants justice to be served. His heart and all of our hearts go out to all of the victims in this tragedy," Witkowski said. "He did not know the suspect. He was just standing there in the hallway, and he said he felt like he got punched in the stomach, and then he looked down and his shirt was ripped and he saw blood and then a friend helped him."

By phone, student Richie Satira told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 that he was in the school's math wing when the stabbings began. He said the school doesn't have metal detectors and only does spot searches when it's deemed necessary by security officials.

Morris Hundley rushed to the school after taking a cellphone call from his daughter, a ninth-grader who cried as she told him what was happening to her fellow students. "Words can't describe how I felt at the time," he said. "She kept calling because they wouldn't let them out in there, and I was trying to be patient and she was trying to be patient. She wanted to come home."

Murrysville police said students were taken to Heritage Elementary School to be picked up by parents or otherwise safely dismissed.

Franklin Regional School District Superintendent Dr. Gennaro Piraino said other schools in the district will remain open while the high school stays closed for the next several days. Counseling services will be made available to the entire school community.

Twenty-four people were injured Wednesday morning at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, where police said a teen armed with two stainless steel kitchen knives walked through the hallways and began stabbing his fellow students before classes were about to start.

FATHER. AS PRAYERS FLOOD A HEARTBROKEN COMMUNITY READY TO PICK UP THE PIECES. THIS DAY STARTED LIKE ANY OTHER DAY AT FRANKLIN REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL, BUT TONIGHT 24 PEOPLE ARE RECOVERING FROM THEIR INJURIES. A 16-YEAR-OLD IS IN CUSTODY CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED HOMICIDE AND A COMMUNITY IS STRUGGLING TO COPE WITH THIS SENSELESS CRIME. IT IS A STORY YOU SAW FIRST ON PITTSBURGH'S ACTION NEWS 4. FRANKLIN REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL LOCATED IN MURRYSVILLE WESTMORELAND COUNTY. WE ARE STANDING BY IN THE SUPERINTENDENT'S NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE THE FBI HAS BEEN SEARCHING HIS HOME. COURTNEY FISCHER HANDLING HOW THE COMMUNITY IS COMING TOGETHER IN SUPPORT OF THE VICTIMS. THE ENTIRE COUNTRY IS TALKING ABOUT TONIGHT. Reporter: YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. THE ACCOUNTS OF WHAT HAPPENED HERE INSIDE FRANKLIN REGIONAL ARE CERTAINLY TERRIFYING, BUT THROUGH THAT ARE STORIES OF HEROISM. AT 16, ALEX HRIBAL LOOKS LIKE A CHILD, SILENT AND STARING IN CUSTODY AND CUFFED, HIS ONLY MOVE WAS TO MOVE HIS HEAD. HE WALKED INTO HIS HIGH SCHOOL BEFORE THE FIRST BELL AND STABBED 22 PEOPLE. 21 OF THEM STUDENTS. POLICE SAY HRIBAL HAS OFFERED NO REASON FOR THE RAMPAGE. WE TURNED A CORNER AND ALL THE TEACHERS ARE FLIPPING OUT AND PANICKING. I LOOK THROUGH THE NURSE'S WINDOW AND SEE SOME KID HOLDING HIS STOMACH AND RUNNING. I WALK A OUT INTO THE PARKING LOT AND THERE WAS A STUDENT LAYING ON HIS SIDE. Reporter: ONE STUDENT PULLED A FIRE ALARM TO ALERT EVERYONE TO GET OUT. HRIBAL CARRIED TWO EIGHT TO TEN INCH KNIVES. UPON MY MY ARRIVAL, WE SAW MANY VICTIMS IN THE EXTERIOR OF THE BUILDING. WE SAW ONE OF THE SECURITY GUARDS HAD BEEN APPARENTLY STABBED. Reporter: AS HE AND SEVERAL STUDENTS WERE BEING CARED FOR BY EACH OTHER, THE SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER PLACED THE TEEN SUSPECT IN CUSTODY. THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL SAM KING DID A ROLE THAT'S VERY ADMIRABLE. SAM WAS ACTUALLY ABLE TO TACKLE THE SUSPECT. Reporter: THAT ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL HAS BEEN PRAISED BY BOTH STUDENTS AND STAFF AS A PERSON WHO SAVED LIVES HERE. WE HAD A CHANCE TO TALK WITH ALEX HRIBAL'S ATTORNEY. THE ATTORNEY SAYS THE FAMILY IS